


Tantalus and the Lovers' Fears

by nonky



Category: Nancy Drew (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:22:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23552983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nonky/pseuds/nonky
Summary: Her father's house arrest guards might soon be her protection. Strange phrases kept getting thrown out by the two uniformed officers, like 'attempted kidnapping' and 'fleeing suspect.' Being a Marvin had moments of drama, but Nancy's life was treacherous in a way she didn't seem to be able to avoid.Owen stopped his hands from shaking by linking his fingers. She was getting the all clear, nodding fervently to advice to rest and monitor her pain level for a sudden increase or trouble with her vision.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Owen Marvin
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32
Collections: Nancy Drew TV Series (2019)





	Tantalus and the Lovers' Fears

Nancy sat on his lap as the paramedics assessed her. She leaned against Owen with her hands cupped under his, feeling chilled and small. She felt irrationally tiny, all her substance suspended up in the air as he held on to keep her from blowing away. 

It had been down to five minutes more or less, the difference between taking one more call to have his evening free or leaving to meet her when she said she'd be getting to the restaurant. His eager feelings had made it impossible to linger at work, and Owen had turned off his phone volume. It wasn't good enough to talk, and he hadn't wanted to give Nancy a chance to make her excuses. She had been happy and relieved her father was freed, and Owen had longed to see that on her face after the weeks of strain.

He didn't expect anything romantic from his evening. They were lucky she was able to avoid a hospital visit. Her neck had a red friction burn, and they had just managed to slow the blood from her split lip and the knock to her forehead. She kept blinking to the same momentary flash of pain, the expressive lean muscles in her face tearing at the clotting.

Her father's house arrest guards might soon be her protection. Strange phrases kept getting thrown out by the two uniformed officers, like 'attempted kidnapping' and 'fleeing suspect.' Being a Marvin had moments of drama, but Nancy's life was treacherous in a way she didn't seem to be able to avoid. 

Owen stopped his hands from shaking by linking his fingers. She was getting the all clear, nodding fervently to advice to rest and monitor her pain level for a sudden increase or trouble with her vision. 

“I'll look after her,” he said quickly. They had recognized him when they came in, not questioning his taking advantage of their patient's momentary distraction. He was sure under normal circumstances there would be no lap sitting or letting him bury his face in her hair to mutter about tracking down violent bastards and making sure there was nothing left to arrest. He was shocked how easy it was to picture bloody revenge. 

The paramedics were tactful with replies, and he was clumsy letting go so Nancy could stand up. He put his arms out like guard rails, and she looked at him oddly. 

“Sorry.” Owen tried for a normal pose, and found himself puffing his chest and wanting to crowd her. 

“I'm not broken,” she said, her tone brittle. 

“I know,” he said, shaking his head and trying to find a way to keep her close without hanging over her in a hulking mass. “Somebody just tried to pick you up and take you! I don't know what to do with that yet.”

He knew she'd appreciate him better if he could make a joke about her bruised face and let her bury whatever fear she was pushing down. Owen couldn't limit his horror. She looked like someone had tossed her around and he didn't accept the reality of it. 

“About three women are treated for similar injuries every day, usually caused by a romantic partner.”

Owen felt himself turn around in astonishment at the toneless humour in the words, facing a man close to his own age who held up a badge. 

“Detective Abe Tamura,” he said shortly. “Miss Drew, I missed you when I was here earlier. I heard you were employed as a waitress. And this is your boyfriend?”

She was suddenly razor sharp, pushing to stand in front of Owen with a frown. “This is Owen Marvin, and he had nothing to do with my injuries. It was Josh Dodd. He attacked me when I discovered he'd been the one to poison Tiffany Hudson's food the night she died.”

The detective had an arrogance to his gaze, but he nodded and he had a notebook out. “I've read the report. Any reason why he'd come back for you a second time? I was under the impression you weren't that closely acquainted, and he had no particular interest in you until you accused him. Could he conceivably get a ransom paid if he'd kidnapped you?”

Nancy paused, seemingly taken off guard by the idea. Owen put his arm around her, and frowned at the rude detective. “What kind of question is that to ask her after she's been attacked?”

“The kind that comes up when a woman dates a wealthy local businessman in a small town,” Tamura told him. “Miss Drew, I've been here less than a week, and your name is in a lot of reports I've read.”

She was tensed, and Owen knew he was crowding her. He didn't like this guy and his overly familiar manner. He couldn't tell if the interest was a particular focus on Nancy, or it was a power play. He'd been to the restaurant earlier, and it didn't sound like he'd been after a lobster roll.

“Like you said, Detective, it's a small town. I wouldn't take much asking around to figure out the Marvins have money and that I know them. I don't know why Josh came back for me other than revenge.” 

She wasn't giving in, and after a moment of squaring off with her, Tamura looked at Owen. “Mr. Marvin, anything you're privy to from work, say, or a family tie that would move the town mechanic to go after someone near and dear to you?”

The dry manner of address made it sound almost offensive, 'near and dear' coming off sarcastic. He knew it wasn't the time to pick a fight, but he wanted to clarify his feelings were sincere. Unfortunately, having no information and not even one official date somewhere they might be seen together didn't answer to a motive.

“No, I have no particular connections to the family or the man. Before I read about what he'd done to Tiffany Hudson, I wouldn't have recognized his name,” he said curtly. 

The scariest part of Josh Dodd's plan was how he'd quietly slipped into town. He'd inherited his shop, but no one associated him with Lucy Sable. He wasn't a mastermind. He was just damaged from the loss of his half-sister. Even with that, it was the urging of Karen Hart – a corrupt cop-that had pushed him to murder. The harsh attitude from Tamura felt undeserved when directed away from his new precinct. 

“That's all I need to know for the moment. I'm going to take statements from the rest of our witnesses here-” The detective used a drawl to imply he didn't anticipate any useful information, “-but I had to ask.”

It wasn't apologetic. If anything, it was a little threatening of future questioning. Nancy was barely past swaying in exhausted terror, and Owen put his hands firmly on her shoulders. He let his manner go presumptuous, a rich boy tenor of indifference fill his mumble of a reply. He wanted to give her a cuddle, but he stood there meeting the bold stare Tamura fixed on them. It seemed like a pivotal moment to imply the Marvins wouldn't be intimidated, or allow the police to paint them as a problematic element in the community. 

Nancy's straight posture seemed to be implying her own lack of sympathy for Detective Tamura's trouble. She didn't say anything as he turned away to make the rounds of the rest of The Claw's employees.

“I don't think we're going to be best friends,” she murmured once he was gone, reaching up to touch her necklace. The dainty chain gave way, and fell into her hand. “Damn it.”

Owen watched her juggle the broken end, her head down. “It must have pulled with your shirt,” he said. “I can get it fixed for you. It doesn't look like you'll lose any of the chain.”

Nancy sighed. “It was my mom's.”

He knew then she wouldn't be handing it off to anyone else, not even for an expert repair. It was a bright gold, usually the only thing she wore aside from some modest earrings. 

“Does it open,” he asked her, trying to distract her from her sad study of the broken jewelry. “Is there a a cute picture of tiny Nancy Drew in there?”

“There's a picture in there. Cute is debatable.”

Owen smiled as she tucked the locket away in her jeans and looked at him, finally calm and self-possessed like he was used to seeing from her. “Hey, I'm wearing a bag of fried chicken seasoning as a necklace.”

She touched it lightly, pressing it to his body tightly. “You have to wear it for at least a few weeks. I'm not sure the Algeaca is done with us. Everyone at the ceremony needs to keep away from the shore and keep the charm bag on as much as possible.”

His forearm had sliced invisibly, through his heavy coat. Owen was more than willing to smell a little odd for a while if it prevented another attack. 

“I was kidding,” he assured her. “I won't take it off.”

Nancy was studying her shoes, and her reply was a little too vague for him to follow. “Maybe they've all left me now,” she said. “Even her. She didn't even try to warn me.”

“Your mother?” He was still not confident with discussion of ghosts. He'd never seen one, even right after Sebastian died and a visit would have brought immeasurable comfort. 

“Lucy . . . would warn me before I walked into dangerous things. I know Josh is her brother, but she could have at least - “

The nicest, obvious answer was Lucy had moved on to whatever came next after 19 years of misery. Nancy had told the town their own nasty truth, and they all felt their portion of the blame for Lucy's suicide. It could only be a good thing she was free to move on to something more peaceful.

“I have no idea how it works,” Owen said slowly. “I would think seeing her less would be an indication she's free now to go somewhere better.”

He wasn't overly religious, for all his regular church attendance on major holidays and an annual mass read in the memory of his uncle. It had to be an improvement to go somewhere kinder instead of watching the world pass time and make your torment part of local folklore. 

Nancy tipped her head back and she was still pale. “You're right. Ryan was at the courthouse. Maybe she followed him home to say goodbye. Hey, can I come to your place to clean up and borrow a shirt that's not ripped? I know my father is riding the high of getting out of jail and I don't want to go home and wreck that yet.”

It was unlikely Carson Drew wasn't going to hear about his daughter fighting off a murderer. Owen was about to argue she should at least call and make an excuse when Ace hustled over and stopped short in front of her. 

“Hi, uh, guys, sorry,” he said, his hands tucked into an apron. “Nancy, John wanted to talk to you. He said it was important. Can you go talk to him in the office? Now? Please?”

They were still mid-crisis, the two uniformed deputies taking Bess and George to opposite sides of the room to get their uncoordinated stories. An older, unassuming man was waving Nancy back to the office, doing his best to go unnoticed by anyone else. She crossed the room, brushing at her clothes. 

“Our new head busboy,” Ace said. He shrugged as he lied, and Owen gestured for him to turn to the left and lean in closer. 

“You barely need the one busboy, let alone a head busboy to supervise,” he said. “It's not my business, but you need to avoid Tamura's questioning if you can't sell a lie better. Maybe you should fake sick and get out of here.”

Nancy's friend cringed, and his hands poked in his untied apron flapped like impotent wings. “I would, but they just rehired my dad to the force. He'd get a heads up and it would just be him interviewing me instead. Besides, Nancy is about to get some rough news. I might be able to help.“

She was in the office about five minutes, and when she came out her face was back to the waxy pallor he'd only just coaxed away. Owen held out his hand and she took it, barely looking at him. 

“I need to go, right now please?”

“Okay, just tell me where,” he agreed easily. “Ace, you think you can drop some dishes and cover us leaving?”

He gathered a few cups and tossed them on a tray, rolling and swinging the tray carelessly. “Hey, Boss, I just remembered I have that stock pot on,” Ace called, making a show of heading quickly toward the kitchen. “I'm gonna go check it now!”

The swing of the door outside sounded against the smash of cups and a few loud groans. There was still an officer patiently swabbing prints off of Nancy's car door. Owen led her to his, trying to stay between her and anyone else in the lot. He could tell she was crying, and didn't want it acknowledged. 

“Where are we going,” Owen asked. He wasn't going to give the option of leaving her alone unless she was going home to see her father. Family was different, and he wouldn't interfere with that. 

“My house might be a little busy,” she said. “Any chance I can impose on you for the night?'

“I'd be thrilled,” he said. “But do you want to stop for some of your stuff or -”

She actually jerked in pain as an answer, and Owen began to wonder if Nancy had freed her father with falsified evidence that had since been thrown into doubt. He didn't seem like a killer, but Lucy Sable's death was before Owen's memory could be trusted. He knew the rhyme about her, and it was only through Nancy he took an interest in the real story. 

The quiet on the drive rivaled the previous night when Nancy had brought him home with an aching arm and a new appreciation Horseshoe Bay wasn't just a place with rich folklore. Some of the old, odd stories had more truth to them than logic supported. He parked the car and turned toward her. 

“What can I do?” 

Her red hair was pulled back behind her ears, the injury on her neck making him hurt for her when she sniffled back more tears. Owen would gladly show her the time of her life and take her mind off things, or put her to bed alone with the covers up to her ears and make sure she had peace to sleep the next three days. He watched her carefully as she looked down, uneasily rubbing at a scuff on her purse. 

“Lucy gave birth shortly before she died, maybe directly before. My father was up there, on the bluffs looking for her. He was there for the Hudsons, but that's not really the point. Lucy didn't survive, and the Hudsons didn't end up with a baby to raise. He promised me he didn't hurt her. The only people who ended up with a new baby anywhere near that time were my mom and dad,” she said. “There were no babies dropped off at the hospital or firehouse. No babies were unaccounted for that summer or fall. Ace had his father check for him. I don't think my father is my father.”

Owen had gotten the barest of reports from the courthouse that day, something about a lost love between Ryan Hudson and Lucy. It sounded nasty, with a campaign to shame her until she gave up and took her own life. Nancy had said the rumours about Lucy's promiscuity destroyed her, implying she was faithful and Ryan had to be her baby's father. 

It would be unthinkable to find out something like that in such a knot of impossible circumstances. It was nearly too melodramatic to think it could happen. Owen took Nancy's hand and jiggled it until she looked at him. 

“Hey, you don't know anything for certain. Maybe that baby wasn't . . . if it didn't live, your father might not have seen any sign of it. Or he might have found it and decided just to get it a quiet burial. Lucy's death was turned into a weird tourism attraction. Maybe he was worried about getting pulled into all of it,” he said reasonably. “Maybe all he could do for poor Lucy was give her baby peace and deny those bullies their evidence.”

Licking her lips, Nancy nodded. “Except that doesn't explain why my DNA was a match for Lucy's.”

It was wrenching how she had broken her own heart absolving her father. Carson Drew finding a newborn Nancy and stealing her for his own family was a mercy, but it was a lie. Nancy's pathological need for the truth was as obvious as her quick mind and her stubborn nature. Claiming her without letting her in on the secret of her birth trapped her in her own maze of unknowns. It wouldn't be safe to let the Hudsons know the baby they hadn't wanted to exist had grown up to challenge them directly. She couldn't investigate to get any answers independent of just trusting Carson's version. 

He had a weird recollection Nancy had discovered Josh Dodd was Lucy's half-brother. Her own uncle had attacked her, and the police thought her grandmother might have been hiding him. Every one of her biological relatives she met acted against her before knowing her for Lucy's daughter. Kate Drew was gone, and with her the partner who could have helped explain Carson's betrayal while keeping Nancy safe.

“I'm so sorry,” Owen told her. “Goddamn it, I'm so sorry.”

Her life had been a nightmare knowing her father was locked up because of a theory she'd put down in her own words as she tried to explain it away. Nancy had never believed her father was guilty of anything worse than being gullible in his choice of clients when he was a young man. She was trembling with the uncertainty of her family. He knew she must want to tear through every potential witness asking a million questions, holding them to their own debts of ugly behaviour.

Owen wished he could calm her, but her reaction was exactly as horrified as it should be to cope with her new parentage. Everett and Celia Hudson had hounded her teenage mother to suicide, cowed their own son into denying the relationship that had created Nancy even happened, and might well want Nancy dead for their own reasons. 

He had been part of that negative relationship, and he cursed his eagerness to have her attention. A Marvin was expected to go after Everett. Hudsons weren't safe, they weren't loyal, and they didn't hesitate to protect their assets and reputation. The families were matched in power, and the balance was carefully maintained to keep everyone civil. The retribution toward Owen would stop at legal obstructions and grudges. 

Nancy was a Hudson heir, very likely had a legal claim to some of their fortune and was an open enemy to them. They had wanted her dead her entire life. Owen could almost understand her father's impossible choice. For the moment, he folded her toward his chest and fought his own urge to hide her away.


End file.
